Netball Australia ‘reasonably concerned’ after Gina Rinehart pulls $15 million sponsorship

Australia celebrate after winning the third Constellation Cup test. Photo / Photosport

The head of Netball Australia says the organisation is “reasonably concerned” about its financial future following the decision by Australia’s richest woman to pull a major $15 million sponsorship deal.

Hancock Prospecting announced on Saturday that it had decided to “regrettably withdraw” its proposed partnerships with Netball Australia and Netball WA, after revelations last weekend that Diamonds players had concerns about wearing a team uniform that included sponsorship branding from billionaire Gina Rinehart’s company.

Indigenous player Donnell Wallam, who is line to make her Diamonds debut in the upcoming series against England, was said to be uncomfortable wearing a uniform with the Hancock Prospecting logo, reportedly due to comments made by Rinehart’s father Lang Hancock in the 1980s.

He infamously suggested in 1984 that Indigenous Australians should be sterilised to “breed themselves out” in coming years.

After a week of controversy, Hancock Prospecting finally pulled the plug, saying in a statement on Saturday that it had “not been made aware” of the issues between Netball Australia and the Players Association and did “not wish to add to Netball’s disunity problems”.

Netball Australia said on Saturday it was “disappointed” by the decision.

The $15 million commercial agreement would have been a lifeline for the governing body, which had lost more than $7 million over the past two years, mostly due to costs associated with Super Netball.

“We are reasonably concerned but at the same time, we have been incredibly transparent with the financial position of our sport throughout the course of the year and having suffered many losses across the last couple of years due to Covid,” Netball Australia chief executive Kelly Ryan told Nine’s Weekend Today on Sunday.

“We are certainly acutely aware of where our sport has been positioned. We have been doing a huge amount of work throughout the year to make sure we can right-size this ship. It is very disappointing to lose this funding which was really going to help accelerate us forward and put us in a much stronger position. However, I’m still incredibly confident that we have the right plans in place that will get the sport to where it needs to be.”

Gina Rinehart, Chairman of Hancock Prospecting group in 2015. Photo / Getty Images

Netball Australia has been given a four-month grace period to arrange alternative funding arrangements.

Asked how grassroots netball would be affected, Ryan said Netball Australia “still [needs] to continue to deliver the sport in the way we have”

“We will continue to make sure we focus on all aspects and grassroots is obviously incredibly important to us,” she said.

“Certainly now, when we know a number of our communities are certainly doing it tough with the flood zones, that obviously becomes a huge priority for us. We will make sure we spend all the energy, time and resources we have in making sure our grassroots are secure along with every other aspect of our sport. We will continue to make sure we find the right balance between being able to invest and pay our way. More importantly, everything we do is designed to make sure we have a real strong growth mindset as a sport.”

Asked to respond to Rinehart’s statement on Saturday that sports teams should not be used for “virtue signalling” or as a vehicle for social or political causes, Ryan was noncommittal on whether she supported the players’ logo boycott.

“Obviously Mrs Rinehart’s views are hers and we fully appreciate them,” she said.

“I think it all comes down to making sure there is a really strong balance. There is a really important role that sporting organisations do play from grassroots right through to the elite to create a safe environment to have really strong social conversations but there also needs to be a balance in terms of the commercial realities of that as well and making sure that you continue to be able to invest in the future of your sport. Both are incredibly important to any sporting organisation. It is about making sure that we can strike that right balance.”

Kelly Jury (centre) defends during the third Constellation Cup clash between the Silver Ferns and Australia. Photo / Photosport

In a scathing statement on Saturday, Hancock Prospecting said the company and Rinehart “consider that it is unnecessary for sports organisations to be used as the vehicle for social or political causes”.

“Firstly, because sport is at its best when it is focused on good and fair competition, with dedicated athletes striving for excellence to achieve their sporting dreams and to represent our country at their very best,” the statement said.

“Secondly, because there are more targeted and genuine ways to progress social or political causes without virtue signalling or for self-publicity. For example, the meaningful engagement with local Indigenous communities undertaken by Hancock’s Roy Hill Community Foundation in West Australia to support their actual needs.

“Thirdly, because there are more impactful means to make a beneficial difference. For example, Hancock’s holistic support for real programmes including Hanrine Futures — that are providing a true pathway for Indigenous students through education and into employment where they are guaranteed a job should they wish, at the end of their training.

“The reality is that sponsorship is integral to sports organisations — for full-time professionals right through to young children at the grassroots level — who rely on corporations investing the funds that enable all sports to not only survive, but thrive.

“Sadly, recent media does not help encourage sporting sponsorships. What can be lacking is a sufficient connection between sponsorship funds and the athletes themselves, with money unnecessarily wasted on administration and related costs. Which is why Hancock has, and will continue to insist, that the funds it provides to any sports it sponsors are spent on and for the athletes.

“Neither Hancock nor Mrs Rinehart have ever requested or insisted that athletes provide any thank you videos or messages — although thank you videos and messages have certainly been received. Hancock and Mrs Rinehart would only ever want athletes to wear the Hancock logo if the athletes were proud to do so.

“Recent media misreporting has been disappointing, particularly given at no stage did Hancock insist its logo be worn on the Australian Diamonds’ playing dress for the recent games in New Zealand, nor did the Australian Diamonds refuse to wear the Hancock logo.”

Diamonds players also released a statement on Saturday denying a “split” over the issue. “Reports of a protest on the part of the players on environmental grounds and a split within the playing group are incorrect,” the statement said.

“The singular issue of concern to the players was one of support for our only Indigenous team member. We are fully committed to the Diamonds’ Sister in Arms legacy and the values this represents, alongside Australian Netball’s Declaration of Commitment.”

The Declaration of Commitment, signed in 2020, involved a coalition of netball organisations vowing to do more to break down the barriers for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players.

The Diamonds are yet to wear a uniform with the Hancock logo on it — and it now appears that they never will.